Skip to main content
off the charts
POLICY INSIGHT
BEYOND THE NUMBERS

On the Map: Higher Education Funding Cuts and Tuition Hikes

Most states continue to replenish their higher education support, as our new report details.  Still, 13 states further cut funding in the past year, and higher education support in almost all states remains below what it was in 2008, at the onset of the Great Recession.

Consider that compared with the 2007-2008 school year, after adjusting for inflation:

  • Forty-seven states — all except Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming — are spending less per student.
  • The average state is spending $1,805, or 20 percent, less per student.
  • Average annual published tuition has risen by $2,068 nationally, or 29 percent.

In the last year, 37 states increased funding per student. Per-student funding rose $268, or 3.9 percent, nationally. Meanwhile, published tuition — the "sticker price" — at public four-year colleges and universities rose in 34 states, but only modestly. Average tuition rose $107, or 1.2 percent, above inflation in the last year.

Click on the map below to learn more about how higher education funding and tuition have changed in each state since the recession. You can also download data from the report or embed the interactive on your own blog or website.